Joe Manchin is finding that the campaign trail is an increasingly lonely place for a Democrat in West Virginia. And now, Roll Call is reporting that he’ll have to run in 2018 without the help of a powerful former ally, the National Rifle Association.
The NRA soured on Manchin after the Senator introduced controversial new gun control legislation. And Manchin’s consolation prize, praise from the extreme anti-gun Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, is more likely to be a detriment to Manchin’s campaign than an asset. Looks like Manchin has a real 2nd Amendment Problem.
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Manchin’s Re-election Bid Will Be Without Powerful Ally
Roll Call
Eric Garcia
January 26, 2018
https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/manchins-nra-cash-dried-since-2012
Sen. Joe Manchin III will have one less crucial donor in his re-election bid this year: the National Rifle Association.
When Manchin first ran for Senate in 2010 to fill the remainder of the term of the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd, he ran an ad touting the gun advocacy group’s support.
The ad also showed him shooting a proposed cap and trade bill with a rifle.
According to opensecrets.org, the NRA contributed $4,950 to his campaign in that cycle. In 2012, when Manchin ran for a full term, the NRA contributed $6,500 to his campaign.
But the month after the election, after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School left 20 children and six adults dead, Manchin teamed up with Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania on gun legislation.
Shortly after, Manchin stopped receiving campaign donations from the NRA, and in 2013 the group tied the West Virginia Democrat to then-President Barack Obama and then-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on guns.
Manchin’s campaign spokesman Grant Herring expressed confidence last year before Manchin announced he would run again that West Virginians wouldn’t hold that against him.
“West Virginia gun owners know that Senator Manchin, who is a life-long hunter and NRA Member, will always protect their Second Amendment rights,” Herring said in a statement. “Law-abiding gun owners know that we can support common sense background checks that keep guns out of the hands of terrorists and criminals while also protecting Second Amendment rights.”
Shannon Watts, co-founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, praised Manchin for his actions, but wouldn’t say yet whether her group would support Manchin.
“We haven’t game[d] out our campaigns that far yet, but we supported Toomey when he was up in 2016,” she said in a message.